Chapter 652: A Tombstone, Yet Also a Monument!

Chen Yan revealed a smile; this was the result he wanted.

Universe Clan technology was the biggest reason he had heavily wounded the Dark-Devouring Mother Tree, and Chen Yan was also clearly aware of the terrifying nature of Universe Clan technology.

Chen Yan's target was the Kumeng Micheng, where not only were there Lu Jianxia and Lu Wuyi, two existences currently ascending to the Eighth Rank, but also the Universe Province Creation Realm led by Yu Laiwei.

Given Chen Yan's current condition, dealing with the peak of the Creation Realm was absolutely no problem.

But Lu Jianxia was about to ascend to the Eighth Rank.

There was also the Eighth Rank Ancient God Beast within the Kumeng Micheng; this Eighth Rank Ancient God Beast was certainly hostile toward Chen Yan.

"Yu Cheng." Chen Yan looked at Yu Cheng and said:

"I need you to manufacture battle armor for everyone except me; parts that can be upgraded should be upgraded as soon as possible."

Yu Cheng nodded and said:

"Battle armor alone is not enough; I will arrange for personnel to manufacture enough offensive artillery platforms."

Yu Cheng's attitude had clearly changed.

Before Chen Yan appeared, although they had chosen Chen Yan, they had not fully committed to him, but now it was completely different.

Chen Yan nodded:

"I can provide the Enlightenment Myriad Forms Map here; you can find Ke Qingxuan for the various materials you need."

Yu Cheng's expression showed slight joy:

"Yes."

The members of the Universe Clan also felt a trace of strangeness in their hearts; the Enlightenment Myriad Forms Map was a divine object, and they had not expected Chen Yan to be so generous as to take it out and share it.

Soon, Chen Yan gave instructions on a few more trivial matters, and the meeting ended.

Just as Chen Yan walked out of the room, he saw a tall figure standing in the corridor.

Chen Yu, dressed in green, was looking at her older brother with resentment.

Chen Yan was slightly stunned and smiled:

"I'm hungry, let's eat together."

Chen Yu frowned, but looking at the bloodstains constantly appearing and disappearing on Chen Yan's body, she ultimately did not say the words she had been bottling up inside.

Soon, inside a room.

An indigo cloth was spread over a round wooden table, and it was filled with a dazzling array of ingredients.

"The fish soup is ready."

Chen Yu walked over carrying a steaming clay pot and placed it in front of Chen Yan.

Chen Yan raised his eyebrows slightly; long before entering the Five Clans Conflict, he had discovered that his younger sister also had a high talent for cooking.

Cooking is something that, if you want to do it well, putting your heart into it is enough.

Chen Yuhu had studied the art of stir-frying noodles for over a decade, and every time he put his heart into stir-frying, he was highly praised.

This caused the siblings to have the concept since childhood that one could do things well as long as they put their heart into them.

"Don't make any more, I can't finish it at all," Chen Yan laughed.

This was the first meaningful conversation between the two siblings since they reunited within the Five Clans Conflict.

Previously, inside the Enlightenment Myriad Forms Map, Chen Yu had tried to talk to Chen Yan several times, but Chen Yan had been focused on his own martial path and had ignored Chen Yu.

"Brother, why are you always like this?"

Chen Yu sat down, looking at the current Chen Yan, her words carrying a trace of complaint.

Chen Yan was always doing things that were extremely worrying.

"Xiaoyu..."

Chen Yan touched Chen Yu's head, speechless for a moment.

Everything he did was deliberately hidden from Chen Yu, all to keep his family from worrying.

But Chen Yu was still a bit too intelligent; even without anyone revealing anything, she had guessed a lot.

"It's nothing."

Chen Yu suddenly raised her eyebrows:

"I'm used to it, I'm used to it, Brother.

You think I'm very worried, but I'm not; I just knew you would definitely do something different."

A faint smile hung on the corners of her mouth as she looked at Chen Yan:

"So big brother, what else are you hiding from me?"

Chen Yan pursed his lips; if he couldn't see through other people's emotions, he would have truly believed this statement from Chen Yu.

Chen Yu had been adventuring alone for a long time and had dealt with many people.

Don't let the fact that the young girl wasn't very old fool you; she had actually long since witnessed the deceit and treachery among martial artists.

But if Chen Yu wanted to trick other information out of Chen Yan's mouth, she was still a bit too green.

In terms of human calculation, Chen Yan, who could peer through emotions, was practically cheating.

Chen Yan just smiled at Chen Yu; the young girl had been full of smiles, but she quickly pouted:

"Forget it if you won't say."

She stared at Chen Yan, then looked at the steaming dishes on the table, speechless for a moment.

All along, chasing after her brother had been her pursuit of the martial path.

But until now, she found herself increasingly unable to see her brother's back, and even unable to understand him.

"Brother, these are for you."

Chen Yu took out a space ring:

"Inside are the explosive formation disks, puppet formation disks, and barrier formation disks I made."

Chen Yan nodded and accepted these formation disks.

The quality of these formation disks was very high; at the very least, when dealing with an existence like Ji Yanbing, these formation disks were sufficient to play a role in changing the course of the battle.

But for Chen Yan, their utility was not very great anymore.

However, these were all a token of Chen Yu's good intentions.

"They are all quite good; some of the explosive formation disks actually have power approaching the Sun-Illumination Grade A," Chen Yan said in surprise as he sensed the space ring.

"Hehe."

Chen Yu rubbed her head:

"The most powerful one is actually the barrier formation disk, which can keep a peak Creation Realm expert controlled for a full second.

It can be considered my masterpiece."

Chen Yan's gaze narrowed slightly:

"Impressive."

"Brother, you're going too far now," Chen Yu pouted:

"You should say 'it's alright'; saying 'impressive' feels a bit like you're deliberately flattering me."

Chen Yan then rubbed Chen Yu's head and said dotingly:

"Can't I praise my own sister? What kind of genius haven't I seen, brother? In the path of formations, my sister is the greatest in all of eternity."

Chen Yu showed a look of disdain:

"Ew, brother, you're so hypocritical. These are things only other people would say; how could you say them?"

"Hypocritical?" Chen Yan was stunned.

It was his first time being evaluated as hypocritical.

"Yeah, those Creation Realm experts all say that to me; it's all flattery."

Chen Yu said as if it were a matter of course, but soon smiled and hugged Chen Yan's arm:

"Of course, hypocritical is hypocritical, but brother, say a few more words; your sister loves to hear them."

Chen Yan glanced at Chen Yu, who was pressing her face against his arm, and pursed his lips:

"I understand."

"Understand what?" Chen Yu's small mouth opened slightly.

"I haven't tested your strength in a long time. Come, let's go to the martial arts room."

The smile on Chen Yu's face transferred to Chen Yan.

The young girl's expression changed, and she hurriedly picked up a piece of cauliflower and handed it to Chen Yan's mouth:

"Brother, let's eat first."

"No, let me see what your strength is first," Chen Yan said with a gentle smile.

Chen Yu's red lips parted slightly; in an instant, Chen Yan became terrifying in her eyes.

Bad memories from long ago flooded her mind once again.

Inside the world of consciousness.

The red-dressed woman's expression instantly turned dark.

"I thought he had become a Heavenly God General and would be different, but it turns out his hobby of bullying his own sister has never changed."

The red-dressed woman sneered.

She had never seen a sister as sensible as Chen Yu.

It was also at this moment.

"Senior, what you said, I can actually hear it," Chen Yan's voice suddenly rang out.

Ji Yannian's expression changed instantly, and she laughed dryly:

"I was just joking."

She stopped talking.

Chen Yan was still a bit too terrifying.

After all, her sister Ji Yanbing had just died at Chen Yan's hands.

However, if one were to speak of any affection between Ji Yannian and Ji Yanbing, there was none at all.

It was just like how Ji Yannian hated her own sister, Ji Yanqing.

Ji Yanbing also hated Ji Yannian.

Otherwise, when Ji Yanqing sensed that Ji Yannian was in Chen Yu's world of consciousness, the first thing she expressed was hostility.

And this third sister, Ji Yanbing, upon learning of this matter, had only one thought regarding Ji Yannian: to capture Chen Yu and then properly torture the remnant soul of this sister of hers.

There would never be such loving three sisters in this world again.

After some pestering from Chen Yu, Chen Yan gave up on the idea of testing Chen Yu's strength.

After finishing the meal, the brother and sister began to chat about various things from the past.

"Breaking the rules, for brother, perhaps it is happiness, just like how I constantly research formations; they are both happiness."

Chen Yu tilted her head and said:

"When I delve deeply into research, I feel a sensation I have never felt before.

It is as if I am truly myself at that moment; Teacher says this is Enlightenment, or perhaps, Flow."

Chen Yan nodded:

"That is indeed the case. Breaking limits brings me pain, but it satisfies me even more; this is my martial path.

For example, Father, he focuses on stir-frying noodles every day; he is also undergoing Enlightenment within the field he excels in.

And what I excel in is breaking the rules."

Chen Yan was trying to explain.

He was not in pain; he was enjoying it, he was happy.

He was not a masochist.

If breaking limits could be done without suffering, he would prefer breaking limits even more.

But breaking limits involved suffering, yet that did not diminish his pursuit of breaking limits.

He was like a pathfinder walking on the road ahead of the world; he was constantly stumbling, but accompanying his constant falling and rising was the road's submission to him.

On those paths that had never been trodden before, Chen Yan's footprints appeared.

"Brother, what if you fail?"

The little girl hugged Chen Yan's arm, saying with worry:

"What if you use everything you have, and in the end, you still fail?"

She looked at Chen Yan, her eyes filled with pity and admiration.

Chen Yan ruffled his younger sister's hair and said softly:

"First point, you were wrong from the very beginning."

"What was wrong?" Chen Yu asked, puzzled, her eyes bright as stars, filled with curiosity.

"Humanity always makes excessive speculations about the future, but the future is forever unknown.

Humanity's speculation about the future is not the real future; it is a shackle humanity places upon itself.

I hope you do not dwell on the future, nor dwell on the past; you belong forever to the present.

What you possess is also only the present."

The little girl fell into silence and began to think, an aura of clarity and spiritual intelligence lingering around her.

"Then what about the second point?"

"Second point, if the final version of me also fails, you must congratulate me," Chen Yan laughed.

"Why should I congratulate you?" Chen Yu was even more confused.

"Because I, Chen Yan, used everything I had and did not become a Path-Opener, but I used everything I had to become a Path-Martyr.

In humanity's countless years of history, a Path-Martyr might not be as glorious and dazzling as a Path-Opener.

But a Path-Martyr is still a Path-Martyr; he never gave up, and the end of his life is a failure, but it is also a beginning."

Chen Yan's smile was radiant:

"His tombstone is also a monument!"

As Chen Yan's voice fell, Chen Yu hugged Chen Yan's arm even tighter.

"I understand, Brother. I am the latecomer who will always follow you and always watch you.

I will cheer for you as you continue to move forward, and even if one day you can no longer walk, I will still cheer for you.

Perhaps I will catch up to you, and I can carry you on my back just as you carried me into the Five Clans Conflict, and continue walking toward the front."

She said earnestly:

"I am the luckiest younger sister in the world; I have the best older brother."

If this were ordinary times, the conversation between siblings might be accompanied by all sorts of bickering and mutual teasing.

But now, even Chen Yu understood that the two of them were moving forward in endless darkness.

This made her cherish the days spent with her brother even more.

She was stingy, unable to say anything that would make her brother unhappy.

Chen Yan was somewhat moved by Chen Yu's growth; he held his sister's shoulder and sat quietly for a long time.

Time seemed to have quieted down.

On the walls, wisps of electric current constantly appeared and vanished, the bright blue light resembling night-blooming cereus flowers blooming for an instant.

At this moment, Chen Yan was extremely calm, feeling very comfortable and warm inside.

War and malice seemed to have completely distanced themselves from him.

He was unfortunate, yet he was also fortunate.

In his growth, there were enemies and good teachers, those who hated him and those who were his confidants.

How unfortunate he was, and yet how fortunate he was.

In the stillness, the little girl suddenly spoke:

"However, I still want to see Brother become a Path-Opener, rather than a Path-Martyr..."

Her voice was very low and soft, but it carried heartfelt reverence.

Chen Yan shook his head slightly:

"The world will indeed value Path-Openers more, but in my view, a Path-Martyr is just as glorious as a Path-Opener.

A Path-Martyr is the cornerstone of a Path-Opener!"